Alissa, are you speaking of prints or originals.  The square inch is height X width, then X the "factor."  At least that is how I will be figuring my originals.  Prints I would follow your united inches formula height + width x factor = Amount.

By adding height and width only, times the factor, there is a significant difference.  Of course, I am new to all of this and I have been doing a lot of research, so I may be wrong.

Example for originals using your factor:

36 + 30 = 66 x 3.5 = $231
(Do you really want to sell this size of an original painting for $231?  A print maybe.)

36 X 30 = 1080 x 3.5 = $3,780 (Significant difference for an original painting.)

Now for me, since I am starting out, my factor is going to be lower, about half of that...until I start making a name for myself!

"I'm impressed that you're selling starting work around $1,500 . . . is that what you're making from the paintings or the actual selling price with a gallery getting a cut?"

 I have not even started selling.  I am in the process of thinking through a business plan, putting it together in the next week or two, and probably start selling in November.

I will probably start with selling prints of my paintings.

I don't have gallery representation and don't anticipate getting any until I have established myself a little.

I am not worried about the pricing of my original paintings because I love what I do and I believe that is what they are worth. If someone doesn't want to buy them, they won't and they will decorate my walls.  My prints will be the more affordable choice for most.

I learned from my first business as a virtual assistant to believe in my worth.  Those who are willing to see the value in what I provide are willing to pay my rates.  I have even raised my rates a couple of times without any of my clients blinking an eye and I have people trying to knock down my door at least once or twice a month requesting to be put on my waiting list.

My VA business, http://www.topshelfva.com, is what is going to pay for my art "business."  It also taught me to believe in myself and that I don't have to start pricing at the low end "just to get clients."

Barney Davey's book, "How to Profit from the Art Print Market" really helped me to focus in on who I am and where I am at right now as far as my art.  With my VA business, it can afford me the ability to pursue my art the way I want to, i.e., it pays the bills, including my art supplies, and I can enjoy making my art the way I want to.

So, by Barney's choices, I have started at the bottom rung.  Be an accomplished amateur artist who makes occasional sales.  I'll start getting my feet wet and see if I enjoy it.  I've given most of my paintings away up to now, so I am starting from scratch anyway.

I actually had a friend in Alaska once that told me I could not come visit her unless I came with one of my paintings as a gift to her, which she had fallen in love with.    No more of that!!

Hello Barney and Naomi,

What an interesting exchange of views!  It reinforces once again that HOW SHOULD I PRICE MY ART is a major concern for most artists, particularly those starting out or who have not established a consistent track record of sales.  I., too, am a Barney Davey fan because of his wise advice and long experience in marketing and promoting art. 

His book: HOW TO PROFIT FROM THE ART PRINT MARKET should be on the desk of every artist serious about becoming successful and should be read by those still undecided about choosing the road to become a professional.  His straight from the shoulder advice will help you decide if you enough “ fire in the belly” to do what needs to be done.

I spent 20+ years on the road as an art rep for individual artists and fine art publishers and wish I’d had Barney’s book when I was starting out to sell my own art and establish myself as a rep.  Traveling thousands of miles and selling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of art each year were my teachers.  Barney would have made the path easier, and after reviewing Naomi’s impressive website and credentials as a Virtual Assistant, I’d have welcomed her kind of expertise even though I spent many years in the ad business and as an agency owner before becoming an art rep.

I just posted a seventeen-minute podcast titled: HOW SHOULD I PRICE MY ART on www.salestipsforartists.com.  If you’d like to hear what I learned “the hard way,” I hope you’ll click the link and tune in.  There are actual dollars-and-cents examples of formulas that helped the artists I represented sell repeatedly and an overview taken from up-to-date trade publications of prices currently charged for originals and prints by the artists who will be your competition.

Dick Harrison